Early history Located on Westgate Road and Clayton Street, the building first opened in 1927 as the 1,870-seat New Westgate Picture House, showing its first movie – the
silent film The Monkey Talks – in October of that year. In 1959 the venue was renamed the Majestic Ballroom, and hosted performances by
The Beatles and
The Who in the 1960s. It was then a
Gala Bingo hall for over twenty-five years until the chain relocated the club to
Byker.
As an Academy venue Academy Music Group first declared their interest in taking over the building from
Newcastle City Council at the end of 2004, and an entertainment licence was granted in March 2005 despite protests from local residents concerned about the noise and
anti-social behaviour. The Carling Academy opened on 14 October 2005 with a headline performance by
Sunderland band
The Futureheads and support slots from Kubichek! and
Field Music. Newcastle's
Maxïmo Park played at the new venue in December, shortly after their international breakthrough with debut album
A Certain Trigger. Other performers in the opening months included
Natalie Imbruglia,
The Human League and
Rooster. In 2006 the Carling Academy was one of the venues for
Evolution Festival for the first time, hosting performances by
Hot Chip and
The Guillemots. The
NME Awards Tour, featuring
Arctic Monkeys,
We Are Scientists,
Mystery Jets and Maxïmo Park, also stopped by for the first time in January.
Panic! At the Disco headlined at the academy in April 2006, and
The Killers in November. In 2007
Mika performed at the height of his fame, filling the venue with giant balloons, while
Amy Winehouse was an hour late for her headline performance in the same year. All of the Carling Academy venues were re-branded under the O2 Academy name in 2008 through a £22.5 million deal with
Telefónica Europe's
O2 mobile network brand.
Katy Perry performed at the venue on her
Hello Katy Tour in August 2009, and
Adele made a much-hyped appearance in 2011. The popular
alternative night Alpha moved to the O2 Academy in February 2014. On 14 October 2015 the O2 Academy celebrated its tenth birthday with a ten-band bill of local talents, headlined by the popular
Little Comets.
As NX Newcastle The
freehold of the venue was put up for sale by Newcastle City Council in 2015 for £625,000, with reassurances that the operation of the venue would not be affected. It was purchased by
Electric Group, who run the
Electric Brixton and
SWX Bristol venues. Academy Group's lease on the building expired in March 2021. In 2020, planning documents were submitted to Newcastle City Council by Electric for "a significant scheme of renovation and improvements before reopening as Newcastle's premier live music venue" in Autumn 2022 as NX Newcastle. ==References==